It was soon their turn.
The person handing out sickles was a round-faced girl, with a large chest and a perky behind, her long braid trailing down her back.
She glanced at Gu Qiu and handed her a chipped sickle.
Gu Qiu gritted her teeth in anger, "How is this supposed to be used?"
"Take it or leave it, next!"
The girl coldly pushed Gu Qiu aside. Seeing Shen Zhao's emaciated appearance, she gave her a good sickle.
Shen Zhao took it and stood aside. Gu Qiu was still angry, gripping the sickle, ready to lash out.
She stopped Gu Qiu, "Let's switch. I didn't want to work anyway." With that, she swapped their sickles.
Gu Qiu disagreed and wanted to switch back, "It's fine, I wasn't planning on working either, I'm just upset."
As they were talking, Ji Bai and Wen Yixun also came over with their sickles.
Shen Zhao took a look; they were all good ones.
But the one Wang Nan got later was also bad.
She looked like she was about to cry. A male educated youth among the old educated youth, named Wang Hua, swapped sickles with her.
Shen Zhao narrowed her eyes, she roughly understood how the girl was distributing the sickles.
She raised her hand and held up the chipped sickle, "Team Leader, I want to report someone for undermining collective unity."
Gu Qiu was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, "Yes! I also want to report someone for abusing power for personal gain, bullying newcomers, and hindering the efficiency of the village's collective work."
Wang Nan meekly raised her hand, "Then, then I'll report too."
Reporting... In those days, saying these two words meant ruin and death.
He Jianping's complexion turned ugly. Why was it this group of troublemakers again!
He turned to the Village Party Secretary beside him and said, "You need to manage your daughter. She's always targeting female comrades prettier than her. Something bad will happen sooner or later."
Although they were partners, they were actually competing in private.
His daughter had embarrassed him, and the Village Party Secretary's face was very unpleasant. He stared gloomily at his own daughter.
Tan Meifang felt her father's gaze and shrunk her neck. She quickly grabbed two good sickles and ran over, "I gave you the wrong ones just now, these are yours."
Saying that, she threw the sickles down, turned, and ran back to continue distributing tools.
Only then did the Village Party Secretary withdraw his gaze.
He looked towards Shen Zhao's group. It was these educated youths who made him lose face in front of the He Family...
After distributing the tools, it was time to form groups.
There were no secrets in the village. Everyone knew about the incident where Shen Zhao and her four companions fought against more than ten people at the Educated Youth Point.
Especially Shen Zhao, who could fight one against a group, several aunties vied to have her.
In the end, Aunt Gui Xiang, with her swift moves, successfully snatched Shen Zhao.
She proudly brought Shen Zhao back to her group, showing off to others.
But she forgot that being able to fight didn't mean being able to work.
Coincidentally, Zhong Zheng was also in her group, responsible for carrying dung to water the areas that had been weeded.
Gu Qiu was in the next group. Wen Yixun was carrying dung, looking like he wanted to die.
Wang Nan and Ji Bai were assigned to different groups.
A drizzle started to fall from the sky again.
For such a light rain, the villagers didn't even need to wear straw raincoats, just a bamboo hat would suffice.
Shen Zhao was different. Seeing the bad weather before leaving, she had brought her bamboo hat and straw raincoat, and even wore rain boots, fully equipped.
Aunt Gui Xiang had already harvested half a section of the field. When she looked back, Shen Zhao was still slowly putting on her straw raincoat. She couldn't help but twitch her mouth.
"Educated Youth Shen, you need to hurry up, or you won't finish the task."
Shen Zhao stood on the field ridge, continuing slowly, unwilling to step into the muddy rapeseed field.
In this weather, the soil was soft and wet. One step down and there was mud, piling up three catties thick on the soles of her shoes.
"It's fine, if I can't finish, I'll just do it slowly."
Aunt Gui Xiang was speechless. She turned and continued working.
She could tell now that this Educated Youth Shen was deliberately slacking off.
An auntie next to her winked at her, "Serves you right for being so proud, you misjudged her."
Educated Youth Shen had thin arms and legs; she clearly wasn't someone who could do manual labor.
Shen Zhao wore that straw raincoat for the entire morning.
The scorekeeper rolled her eyes countless times, and Aunt Gui Xiang urged her countless times, but she acted as if she couldn't hear.
Zhong Zheng wanted to help, but he was already struggling with his own tasks. He'd spill half of the two buckets of dung he carried, so he couldn't even help himself.
As soon as the bell for finishing work rang at noon, Shen Zhao finished putting on her straw raincoat and disappeared from the field ridge like a gust of wind.
The scorekeeper frantically shouted from behind, forbidding her to leave.
Everyone only saw a blur of motion fly past; no one could clearly see who it was.
But Aunt Gui Xiang knew who it was; she ran away right before their eyes.
She stood in the field, panting with anger.
She regretted it immensely. Why had she been so foolish as to bring her into the group?
Only when she could no longer hear the scorekeeper's voice did Shen Zhao slow down.
The rule about not being allowed to leave until the task was finished didn't apply to her.
Gu Qiu stood not far away, her sickle completely free of mud. The two exchanged a smile and went their separate ways.
Ji Bai, who was chasing after them, only saw a residual image.
Returning to the He Family's house, He Xiaolan was already cooking in the kitchen.
For some reason, she hadn't gone to work today.
"Educated Youth Shen, you rest for a bit, dinner will be ready soon."
Shen Zhao replied while taking off her bamboo hat and straw raincoat, removing her rain boots and changing into wool slippers. She sat by the fire in the main hall, her cheeks bulging as she chewed on two pastries.
A moment later, the He Family members returned one after another.
He Jianping's brows were furrowed so tightly they could have crushed a fly.
Tan Xiuping looked at Shen Zhao with extreme displeasure.
The face the Village Party Secretary had regained for them that morning was lost again by Shen Zhao spending the entire morning on the field ridge wearing a straw raincoat.
That scorekeeper was also surnamed Tan.
Whether the educated youths worked or not was originally none of He Jianping's business.
But since Shen Zhao was living in his house, it became his concern.
"That Educated Youth Shen," He Jianping carefully chose his words, "do you have any opinions about me or the production brigade?"
Shen Zhao looked up, she couldn't take the blame. "No, I treat our production brigade like my own home, loyal and devoted, cherishing it dearly."
Tan Xiuping rolled her eyes, "That's just empty talk, all you know is how to say pretty words."
"Stop talking," He Jianping glared at his wife.
"I will talk! You are an educated youth, sent to the countryside to work. If you can't stand it, go home early."
Shen Zhao wasn't going to tolerate this. "Whether I work or not is none of your business, you meddling busybody."
After saying that, she looked at He Jianping meaningfully, "Team Leader, wouldn't you agree?"
He Jianping tightly gripped his wife's arm, opened his mouth, and began to lecture.
"Educated Youth Shen, if you don't go to work, you won't get work points, and without work points, you won't get food..."
"I don't rely on work points for food," Shen Zhao said indifferently.
"Aren't you afraid of being reported for not working and engaging in capitalism?"
Shen Zhao: Is there such a thing?
She had to be wary.
She fell silent. He Jianping thought he had intimidated her and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
A young person like her, he could still handle her.
Shen Zhao silently got up and walked inside the house. After a moment, she came out again, holding something in her hand.
The Team Leader's eyelids twitched. He looked closely.
It was a scarf!
This troublesome ancestor.
His legs went weak. "Wait! Educated Youth Shen, you... since you're not feeling well, I'll give you half a day off this afternoon to rest properly!"
Tan Xiuping's face also turned pale with fright.
Only then did Shen Zhao turn around, "Really? Thank you, Team Leader, you're so kind!"
He Jianping lost a few more strands of hair. It was more tiring than walking two hours on a mountain road.
It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send one away. Why on earth did he...
..bring this troublemaker, who threatened to hang herself at the slightest provocation, home...
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